Local area network switches protect consumer devices

San Jose, Calif.  Pericom Semiconductor Corp.'s pair of mutliplexer/demultiplexer Gigabit Ethernet local area network (LAN) switches are said to sport the highest level of electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection for susceptible products ranging from PC's to televisions.

"Pericom's devices meet or exceed the highest standards of all three ESD types including human body model (HBM), contact discharge, and machine model, thus allowing customers to have the confidence of greater tolerance of high voltage surges and better protection of their systems internal circuitry," said Shaf Rahman, Pericom's marketing director.

According to the IEC specification, consumer products must provide the highest level of ESD support, which is 8 kV of contact-ESD protection, Rahman said. "Typically, external circuitries, such as diodes, are needed to achieve the higher ESD protection. Some external ESD solutions can cost up to $0.25 per Ethernet port. The same robust ESD support is now integrated into Pericom's new PI3L301D-A and PI3L500-A products," he said. (See related graph below)